Wireless communication systems have become an important means by which many people worldwide have come to communicate. A wireless communication system may provide communication for a number of mobile stations, each of which may be serviced by one or more base stations.
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project, also referred to as “3GPP,” is a collaboration agreement that aims to define globally applicable technical specifications and technical reports for third and fourth generation wireless communication systems. The 3GPP may define specifications for the next generation mobile networks, systems, and devices. In 3GPP specifications, a mobile station is typically referred to as a user equipment (UE), and a base station is typically referred to as a Node B or an evolved Node B (eNB).
3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the name given to a project to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone or device standard to cope with future requirements. In one aspect, UMTS has been modified to provide support and specification for the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). LTE-Advanced is the next generation of LTE.
3GPP LTE-Advanced specifications will include functionality that will enable separate (possibly non-contiguous) bands of spectrum to be aggregated via partitioning into component carriers. Each component carrier (CC) may include 2.5 MHz to 20 MHz of bandwidth. The reasoning for having a maximum partition of 20 MHz is to provide a mechanism for backward capability to LTE Release 8 and Release 9 UEs. The systems and methods disclosed herein relate generally to component carrier selection in a wireless communication system (e.g., an LTE-Advanced system).